Congressman owns press with deleted tweet to Cyndi Lauper

On Sunday, ’80s pop diva Cyndi Lauper performed at a White House function honoring “Memphis Soul.” After Lauper’s cover of Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness,” Congressman Steve Cohen fired off a harmless tweet to congratulate the recording artist on her set. “Great night, couldn’t believe how hot u were,” the Tennessee Democrat tweeted. “See you again next Tuesday. Try a little tenderness.”

A harmless enough message for a bachelor in any profession if you ask me, but Cohen began to draw media attention only after he deleted the tweet, causing the deleted tweet aggregate Politwoops to snag that sucker before it was too late.

And so goes the Streisand effect: Outlets such as Salon, Politico, the Washington Post, Mediaite, Business Insider and the NY Daily News have all covered the incident, which raises the question, who gives a shit?

Cohen wondered the same thing, which is why members of the media got served after his statement Friday afternoon.

“Two months ago, my family was personally hurt and victimized by sensationalized, fact-less speculation masquerading as journalism,” Cohen said. “I hope this serves to bring attention to the need for journalistic integrity as well as encouraging everyone to watch the spectacular and hot performances of Memphis music.”

Cohen’s statement is referring to the TMZ-if-i-cation of political coverage — specifically an incident back in February, when he was pummeled from publications such as Gizmodo, New York Magazine and others for a deleted, and equally innocent, tweet exchange with 24-year-old model Victoria Brink. Reporters later learned she was his daughter.

You, too, can follow Cohen on Twitter to spend an afternoon scrutinizing his next round of innocuous deleted tweets at @RepCohen.

It turns out that, not only were 38-year-old Melody Lippert (mugshot, left) and 30-year-old Michelle Ghirelli (right) booked for unlawful sexual conduct, but the extra-curricular enthusiasts are also facing drug charges.